Joe Gibbs Racing Busch Series Race Report - Texas
Date: Nov. 3, 2007
Event: O’Reilly Challenge (Round 33 of 35)
Series: NASCAR Busch Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Winner: Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
JGR Finish: Denny Hamlin (Started 6th, Finished 3rd / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Tony Stewart (Started 2nd, Finished 7th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet, led the two-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth by finishing third in Saturday’s O’Reilly Challenge NASCAR Busch Series race. It was Hamlin’s 11th top-five finish this season and his seventh straight top-10.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 18 Goody’s Cool Orange Chevrolet for JGR, finished seventh. Stewart dominated the 200-lap race, as he led three times for a race-high 114 laps. But contact with the No. 14 car of rookie Kyle Krisiloff, who was a lap down, damaged the right front nose of Stewart’s Chevrolet with less than 80 laps remaining. A long stop on pit road during a caution period on lap 129 was needed to properly repair the car, and while Stewart was able to stay on the lead lap, he dropped to 15th when the race resumed.
There were four caution periods for 20 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish.
With 33 of 35 Busch Series races in the books, the No. 20 car is second in owner points, 113 points behind the leading No. 29 car of Richard Childress Racing, and a healthy 146 points ahead of the third-place No. 60 car of Roush Fenway Racing. The No. 18 car is 20th in owner points, 211 points outside the top-15.
Kevin Harvick scored his 32nd career Busch Series victory, his sixth of the season and his fourth at Texas by winning the O’Reilly Challenge. Future JGR driver Kyle Busch finished second, while Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth secured the rest of the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Stewart, Jeff Burton, Tony Raines and Stephen Leicht comprised the remainder of the top-10.
The next event on the Busch Series schedule is the Nov. 10 Arizona.Travel 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 4:30 p.m. EST with live, high-definition coverage provided by ESPN2 beginning with its pre-race show at 4 p.m.
